The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-13
The Few VS.. The Many.

The proposition that the poverty of the
many may be alleviated by the taxation
which protects the few is one seemingly
SO monstrous as to be absurd. This
reduetiO al absurdum might be made
practical by the simple statement that
the policy pursued by the Republican
party for the whole of its long lease of
power has tended always to make 1.-The
| rich richer and the poor poorer" but the
advocates of protection for protection S
sakeare still industriously engaged in at
tempting to make the worse appear the
better cause" We have Democrats even
among us who would like to see a pro-
tective duty of one dollar per box placed
on oranges by a Democratic Congress.
Against such small reasoning no argu-
ment based on law or justice may avail,
but figures may be brought forward to
show that, in case individual seltishness
succeeds in dominating the party, then
we must abandon our claim to represent
| the interests of the many against the
greed of a few who would deprive labor
! of its wages, take food from the poor
| mans family and change the long estab-
| lished purpose of our political existence
that they may unjustly snatch drops
| from the golden stream which gives us
national life and purpose.
In preparing the annual report for
| 1856 the Secretary of the Treasury APP
piled to the chiefs of several govern
mental bureaux for estimates as to 1.-The
number of persons in the United States
| engaged in gainful occupations, CLASH
fed as those who cannot be subjected to
foreign competition and those who can.
| in part, be subjected to foreign competi-
! ton" Each of these statistical experts
made report. Mr.. WOrthington G.
Ford, chief of the Bureau of Statistics of
the State Department, stated that the total
number of persons engaged i'll gainful
occupations according to the census of
| 1880 was 1882 .O99, divided as fol-
lows: Agriculture, 1910, 493; manu-
features, mechanics and mining g.
S}7,112 professional and personal 4,014,
23S; trade and transportation 1,S1O, $50.
Setting aside the last two classes, Mr..
! Ford concludes:
Population not subject to foreign comPe-
titiOn Iii, ist. 81
Population subject TO foreign competi-
ton ST, isl
the percentage being A.. to the whole
population.
f. II. Elliott, the Government Actu-
airy, by different process, concludes
that the number subject to foreign com
petition was S25, 900, or about II.
| Prof. Simon b. Newcomb estimates
the number subject To this competition
was 800, 5S5, or ) 2-1O of the population,
concluding IF trade We're entirely free,
the fraction of our present INDUSTRIAL
population injuriously subject to foreign
competition would not exceed Z pei
| cent"
| Now these are the official estimates
compiled from the record. The Demo
cratic party only asks that the tariff be
for revenue only" and would avoid a
vast accumulation of dead capital in the
Treasury vaults. The Republicans and
the Randall wing of the Democratic
party, with editors Grady and Graves
| ask that 81 per cent. of our population
be required to pay tax which can only
benefit the smaller minority making
per cent. of the whole
We hope Brother Graves will cease tC
boast of his lonely place on the protec
ton plank and come down among ths
rest of us on the solid ground of reason
justice and equality to ''all with malic,
To none"